Diver (ANZSCO 399911)

On the Regional Occupation List and Core Skills Occupation List

From the official Home Affairs skilled occupation lists, as at 2026-08-12. Lists change at each government update — always confirm on the official page before acting.

Which lists is Diver on?

ROL — Regional Occupation List. Occupations on the ROL are limited to the regional provisional visas — mainly the Skilled Work Regional 491 and Skilled Employer Sponsored Regional 494.

CSOL — Core Skills Occupation List. The employer-sponsorship list — occupations on the CSOL can be nominated for the Skills in Demand visa (subclass 482) and the Employer Nomination Scheme 186.

Visas this occupation can access

Being on a list makes the occupation nominatable for these visas — each visa still has its own requirements (points, age, English, a positive skills assessment, and for sponsored visas a willing employer or state).

Skills assessment

A positive skills assessment for Diver comes from:

What the assessment actually involves

Diver is a VETASSESS Group D occupation, and the only one in this family with a fifth pathway that bypasses the qualification test entirely: a current ADAS (Australian Diver Accreditation Scheme) Diver Card can substitute for a formal AQF Certificate III/IV qualification, paired with two years of highly relevant employment in the last five. VETASSESS's suitable titles span a wide range — Onshore Diver, Offshore Diver, Saturation Diver, Scientific Diver, several aquaculture and defence-force diving roles among them — one code covering very different working environments.

Where these applications come unstuck

The ADAS pathway is easier to reach than a formal qualification in most cases, and that ease is exactly what makes the next step easy to skip: ADAS's own site states plainly that no AQF or VET qualification is needed to work as a diver or diving supervisor in Australia in the first place — meaning the credential this pathway is built around was never designed as, and is not, permission to actually dive on an Australian job site.

An honest read on this pathway

A positive Diver assessment supports the visa nomination; it does not authorise commercial diving work. That authorisation runs through state work-health-and-safety regulation calling up the AS/NZS 2299.1 standard, with some states requiring ADAS certification directly, and separately through a Commonwealth Act for anyone working in offshore petroleum or minerals mining. Someone planning to dive commercially in Australia needs both a positive VETASSESS-recognised assessment for the visa and to separately confirm what the relevant state regulator or Commonwealth scheme requires before starting work.

VETASSESS assesses qualifications and employment separately. Both need documentation that agrees with itself. The Employment History Builder and Document Vault organise each trail before you lodge.

Talk it through with a registered agent

Whether nominating Diver is your best route depends on your points, experience evidence and timing — exactly what a MARA-registered agent works through in an initial consultation. Describe your situation once through Migratio and compare real consultation quotes from registered agents, free.

Compare registered agents — free

Related occupations

All skilled occupations · Points calculator · Skilled visa agents